Panetta to warn troops about the effect of bad PR on the war effort - Stars and Stripes:

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta talks to reporters at the Pentagon on January 5, 2012. Olivier Douliery/MCT file photo WASHINGTON — Are U.S. troops losing a war of perception even though they’re dominating on the battlefield? When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta travels Friday to visit soldiers at Fort Benning, Ga., he’ll personally remind them of the harm that lapses in judgment and unwisely publicized photos and videos can inflict on the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan. “We live in a world where these kinds of isolated incidents can become a headline in 15 seconds,” Panetta said in an interview Monday. “And that can do tremendous damage.” That the defense secretary is delivering the kind of message that might normally be expected from a sergeant major or platoon leader is a testament to the kind of damage the Pentagon believes has been done by recent public missteps in Afg...